The Varela Vipers will challenge the Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Varela's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Archbishop McCarthy's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Varela is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They walked away with a 9-5 victory over Okeechobee. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Vipers.
Andy Espinoza looked comfortable as he tossed four innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits.
On the hitting side, Yoidi Martinez was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in March. Alejandro Ponte was another key player, getting on base in two of his four plate appearances with two RBI and one run.
Meanwhile, Archbishop McCarthy came tearing into Thursday's matchup with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Panthers as they made off with an 11-1 win. That's two games straight that the Mavericks have won by exactly ten runs.
Zachary Tavarez looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Archbishop McCarthy is 10-2 when Tavarez allows one or fewer earned runs, but 8-9 otherwise.
At the plate, Archbishop McCarthy got a big performance out of Alejandro Cabral, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Juan Cerra, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Archbishop McCarthy was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .478. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .300 or higher in four consecutive games.
Archbishop McCarthy's victory was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-11. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Varela, their record now sits at 18-7-2.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Wednesday. Varela hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Archbishop McCarthy struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.7 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
